Only in Memories
by Calthis
Summary: Peter and Lilian reminisce about their time in Narnia after their adventures with Prince Caspian.


Peter sat with his head leant back and eyes closed. The sun through the window was warm on his face and the light breeze coming in was just enough to stop it from being too hot. He wasn't awake but he wasn't entirely asleep. In his half aware state, Peter heard the front door opening but didn't react to it.

Lilian caught sight of him just before she called out to see if anyone was home and smiled. Now she knew why he was late meeting her. Setting down her coat, she went over to him and shook his shoulder lightly.

"Peter? Wake up."

He started a bit and sat up. "I'm not sleeping" he said as he stretched. "I was just resting my eyes."

"And standing me up" she said.

"I… what?" Peter said in confusion before looking around at the clock. His eyes widened when he saw the time. "Oh, I am so sorry!" He jumped up to his feet. "I completely lost track of time. I didn't mean to."

Lilian laughed. "Don't look so worried. I'm not angry about it. I was just worried that something had happened to you."

"No, I was just tired after my classes. But I'll take you out now. I don't think we'll make it to the pictures though."

"That's all right. We can find something else to do. Let's go for a walk and get ice cream."

"We'll go do that then" Peter said. "We can go to the pictures tomorrow?"

"I'll be working in the afternoon but I can go in the evening" she replied as he led her out of the house. It was a very warm summer day and plenty of people had decided to take advantage of it. She smiled as she watched a father chasing his three laughing daughters down the road.

"The ice cream shop might be crowded" Peter said, tucking her arm around his as they walked.

"I don't mind waiting. Ice cream shops always seem happiest when they're full of people on a sunny day."

"That's true. Remember when we were in Narnia on the beach? Lucy and Terese kept saying they wanted ice cream to complete the day."

"We were all thinking it, they were just the ones who said it."

"They were always the ones to say what everyone is thinking. That's probably what makes them such good friends. They have a lot in common."

"Too much in common" Peter said. "Remember when they ran off to the falling bridge to see if they could get across it? I think I had four or five heart attacks in thirty seconds."

"Oh so did I. It's probably just as well we aren't in Narnia anymore. There are far less opportunities for them to get into trouble" Lilian said, sighing slightly. She would much rather be in Narnia than London, but she was where she was. Their time in Narnia was over.

"Lucy always finds a way to get into trouble. The last letter she sent from school detailed how she cut off a girls' pigtail for bullying the younger girls. She only cut one off so the bully had to go through the further shame of getting a haircut. Lucy has to sit through daily detentions for the next three weeks writing lines."

Lilian laughed, able to picture the image in her head perfectly. "That certainly sounds like Lucy. Always the protector of the weak, no matter the consequences for herself."

"She is Lucy the Valiant after all."

"I prefer Peter the Magnificent."

Peter laughed, turning a little red along his cheekbones. Outside of Narnia, the title just felt a little ridiculous and he didn't want anyone outside of their group to ever hear it. Especially not some of the boys in his medical classes. They were a bit thuggish and would certainly use it to torment him.

"How are your classes?" Lilian asked. "You started them on Monday, didn't you?"

"I did. It's been… full on. We've already covered a lot of material but it's good. I'm enjoying it. I just have to focus and make sure I get all my studies done so I don't fall behind."

"You're smart, I'm sure you'll keep up just fine" she said, patting his arm encouragingly.

"You're always very sure, but at least that means one of us is."

"Maybe I can be Lilian the Sure then" she said, making him laugh again. He seemed much more awake now, all of his drowsiness pushed away after spending time with her.

"That's a good name for you. Which ice cream parlour did you want to go to?"

"That one by the theatre. I forgot its name."

"I know which one you're talking about" he said and changed their direction at the new corner to set them on the right route. "Did you work today?"

"For a few hours this morning. It was before it opened so I was just cutting fabric and pinning things mostly. I think I stabbed my fingers about a thousand times."

"Let me see" Peter said, taking her hand and turning it over to look at her finger tips. "Oh wow. I can almost see the holes."

"It really wasn't a good day for finger pricking."

"Clumsy Sleeping Beauty" he teased. "Don't faint."

"If I do, I'm sure you'll catch me in a dramatic fashion. Like that time in Narnia when it got really hot in the caves. I forgot to drink water and then passed out."

"I have to admit, I mostly caught you on accident since you were right in front of me. It was an instinctive thing."

Lilian laughed and couldn't resist teasing him. "Really? That hurts. Maybe instead of thinking about what actually happened, I'll daydream about swooning into Caspian's arms."

Peter pulled a face at her. He had heard plenty about Caspian and various parts of his appearance from Susan. After five minutes, he had had no desire to hear anything more. And he certainly didn't need any reminders of his sister kissing the prince in front of half the kingdom. What kind of person did that? He didn't need his girlfriend talking about him as well.

"What? You don't want me swooning into Caspian's arms? I'm sure he'd be able to catch me just as well as you" Lilian teased.

"You're not to be swooning in anyone else's arms."

"What if it isn't on purpose?"

"That would be acceptable" Peter said. "But I still wouldn't like it. Especially if it was Caspian."

"I guess you've heard enough about him from Susan."

"That girl is obsessed" Peter said, sounding very defeated. "She spoke to him about four times. Yet somehow that was enough for her to spin some fairy tale romance out of it."

"You can't blame her" Lilian said, pausing to wave to one of her mother's friends before continuing. "She was just starting to get interested in boys and he was very charming and handsome."

"My sisters aren't allowed to be interested in boys."

"Susan has a boyfriend and Lucy is certainly interesting in having one."

"No."

"You're in denial."

"Yes I am, and I will remain that way until the wedding. But there will never be a wedding because they aren't interested in boys" Peter said determinedly, opening the door to the ice cream parlour for her. She went in ahead of him and was happy to find the place half full. Their favourite booth was still free. They would be able to eat their ice cream while watching everyone go up and down the street. It was a fun and cheap thing to do.

"So you can't accept Susan having a boyfriend, but Edmund having a girlfriend is fine?" Lilian asked, looking over the ice cream choices.

"No, that's weird too" Peter admitted. "But I'm not going to oppose it because I know he's not going to do anything unsavoury. It's the ones who aren't my brother I don't trust."

"Your reasoning is flawless, your majesty."

Peter laughed. "Stop teasing me and just pick your ice cream."

Lilian giggled and finally made a decision. Chocolate chip ice cream with fudge sauce on top was exactly what she needed. Peter got his usual chocolate ice cream and they went over to their favourite booth.

"Are you still going to visit the Professor?" Lilian asked.

"Ed and I will probably go at the end of next month. Lucy wanted to come but she'll still be in school so she can meet us later. Train fares are relatively cheap at the moment. Mother and Father have also said they might go with her. They've been wanting to take a holiday for a while."

"They deserve one. Your mother was telling me they haven't been on one just the two of them for years."

"Four children and a war certainly keeps them busy."

"It would" Lilian said. "It was busy enough in Narnia when all you had was a possible war. Everything was very tense and a bit scary."

"It all worked out though. It was the battle with the lowest number of casualties I've been involved in. No casualties at all would be best but I'll take what I can get."

"You must have been involved in a lot."

"At least a dozen probably. But a lot of them were just border skirmishes that got out of hand. We also had a lot of trouble with giants in the north. Those are difficult to fight."

"It's so strange to think you had another lifetime in Narnia."

"Not exactly a lifetime but ten years is a long time. I'm still not as old as I was when we left the Golden Age" Peter said, taking a spoonful of her ice cream. She didn't protest and just took one of his in return. "Edmund hated it when he was to go through his voice breaking again."

"Was it weird being children again?"

"Very weird. We still remembered everything so we felt much older than we were. We definitely came across as older. Our parents just put it down to being evacuated from London."

"I can't imagine it…" Lilian said, taking a moment to attempt it. She couldn't do it at all. She couldn't even begin to fathom suddenly being ten years younger and doing everything all over again. "It was weird enough for me coming back from Narnia and still being the same."

Peter smiled a bit. "It does take a while to adjust coming back. Maybe next time you'll get to stay for longer."

"You think I'll go back?"

"Possibly. Aslan only said Susan and I won't be returning" Peter said. For a moment, a look of sadness passed over his face and Lilian immediately felt a stab of guilt. She kept talking about Narnia and all their memories, yet he knew he would never be going back. He was a king locked out of his kingdom.

"I'm sorry" she said, biting the inside of her lip.

"What are you sorry for?"

"For always talking about Narnia. You can't go back and it's not really fair to keep reminding you of that."

Peter chuckled a bit and took her hand, running his thumb over her knuckles. "You weren't reminding me that I can't go back. You were just reminding me of what happened while I was there."

"And that's fine?"

"Of course it's fine. I don't want to forget any of it and I'm not going to just forget about what happened because I can't go back. That doesn't really make sense."

Lilian smiled and nodded. "You're right. I was just worried for a moment. I don't want you being upset."

"I'm not upset, don't worry. I will always miss Narnia but I don't regret going there in any way" Peter said. "And I hope you get to go again someday. So long as you don't go swooning in Caspian's arms."

Lilian couldn't help but laugh at that. "You know I won't. He's like a brother to me and you don't swoon into your brother's arms."

"No, you don't. That's just odd" Peter agreed, taking some more of her fudge sauce.

"Hey, stay away from my fudge. You should have gotten your own" Lilian said, playfully knocking her spoon against his.

"But then I can't steal it from your bowl. And it just tastes so much better when it was yours."

"That's true. That's why I take yours as well" she said, helping herself to another spoonful of chocolate ice cream. He laughed and continued eating from both their bowls. They watched through the window at all the people going about their day. All the while, they were holding hands, keeping themselves close to one another and, in a way, close to their memories of Narnia.


End file.
